Signal for gasoline tanks



Aug. 12, 1924. 1,504,874

C. DI PIETRO ET AL SIGNAL FOR GASOLINE TANKS Filed May 2, 1923 F6 Z 13x19 6 Patented Aug. 12, 1924.

11.: STATES 1,504,874 PATENT OFFICE.

CIRILID DI PIETRO AND DANIEL M. COLUCGI, 01E WATERIBURY, CONNECTICU '1.

SIGNAL FOR GASOLINE TANKS.

Application filed May 2,

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that we, CIRILLo D1 Prerno, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Waterbury, county of New Haven, and State ofConnecticut, and DANIEL M. Co-

LUcor, a citizen of Italy, and a resident of vice for warning the driverof an automobile when the fuel in the supply ,tank has become nearlyexhausted.

One object of the invention is'to provide an alarm device for use uponautomobiles, to indicate when the level of the gasoline in the supplytank has fallen to a predetermined point.

A. further object is to provide a device of the above nature havingmeans operated by a float in the gasoline tank for opening communicationbetween a source of vacuum and an alarm whistle, when the amount ofgasoline has reached the predetermined minimum, and also having meanswhereby the whistle may be silenced whenever desired.

A further object is to provide a gasoline level alarm device of theabove nature, which will be simple, cheap to manufacture, reliable,efficient, and which may be installed in any typeof motor vehicle.

With these and other objects'in view, there has been illustrated on theaccompanying drawing one form in which the invention may be convenientlyembodied in practice.

Fig. 1 represents a side view, partly in section, of the gasoline-levelalarm system as it appears when installed on an automobile.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the device taken on aplane at right anglesto the view shown in Fig. 1, and on a considerably larger scale.

Fig. 3 isa top sectional view on an enlarged scale, of the valvechamber, taken on the line 3 3, of Fig. 2. I

Referring'now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughoutthe several views, the

numerallO indicates a gasoline tank adapted to be located in anyconvenient position upon an automobile, preferabl at the rear thereof.The tank 10 is provide at its top with an annular raised section 11,preferably circu- 1923. serial- No. 636,136.

lar in shape, said raised section having a concentric aperture 12.Mounted on the annular raised section 11 and secured thereto by'bolts13, is an annular ring 14, said ring having a rib 15 extending upwardlytherefrom. The inner edge of the ring 14 is threaded at 16 to receive athreaded depending flange 17 of a valve head 18. The valve head 18 hasitsedge 19 adapted to overlie the rib 15 so as to produce a rigidinterlocking structure.

The valve head 18 has a narrow interior vertical chamber 20, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2. This chamber 20 is in open communication with a pair ofpipes 21 and 22 which pass through, the top of the valve head 18. Thevertical chamber is provided with a round socket 23 at its top which isada ted to form a seat for the top of a relatively ong plunger 24, oflarger diameter than the width of said vertical chamber,-said plungerbeing slidabl fitted within a depending neck portlon 25 o thevalve head18.

The lower end of the neck portion 25 is provided with a' transverseaperture 26 within which a pin 27 fixed to the rod 24 is adapted to havea limited up-and-down movement. The lower end of the valve rod 24 isscrewed into a hollow. collar 28', said collar being united to the topof a hollow float 29 in any suitable manner, as by soldering. The float29 is open at the bottom, and is adapted to contain a suflicientquantity of air to cause the float to exert a continuous upward pressureupon the valve rod 24. The top of the valve rod 24 will thus be held inthe socket 23 except when the level of the gasoline has fallen below thedanger point, at which time the rod will move down out {of its socket23, and communication will be opened'between the pipes 21' and 22through the narrow passage 20.

' The pipes 21'and 22 are connected at their upper ends to elbows 30 and31 respectivel Connected to the elbow 30 is a whistle-operating pipe 32,which extends forwardly under the body of the car, and rearwardlythrough the dashboard 33 to a vacuum-operated whistle 34 located on theinstrument board 35. A valve 36 operated by a handle 37 is alsoprovided,- by means of which the whistle may be connected ordisconnected as desired. The elbow 31 also has'connected thereto a pipe38 which passes forwardly under the body of the car, said pipe thenextending upwardly under the engine hood to a T connection 39. The Tconnection 39 is also connected to the intakemanifold 40, and to a pipe41 leading rearwardly to the usual vacuum feed tank 42.

In operation, when the level of the gasoline in the tank has fallenbelow the predetermined point, the top of the rod 24 will move out ofits socket 23. This will then open communication through the narrowchamber 20 between the vacuum pipe 22 and the pipe 21. Air will then besucked through the pipe 32 and the whistle will produce a loud noise.The sound of the whistle will indicate to the driver that the level ofthe gasoline has fallen to the danger point, and will warn him to stopat the next filling station tohave the tank refilled. In order tosilence the whistle, it will only be necessary for the operator to reachunder the instrument board 35 and turn the handle 37 until the valve 36is closed. After the tank has been -refilled, the operator may againopen the valve 36 to restore the parts to their original workingcondition.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in whichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form isshown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention isnot to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all Y 7 the modifications and embodimentscoming within the scope of'the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention,

what is claimed as new, and for whichit is desired to secure LettersPatent, is:

1 1. In an alarm device for warning the driver of a motor vehicle whenthe fuel in the supply tank has become nearly exhausted, a casing havinga flange for attachment to the edge of an opening in the top of thetank, said casing having an interior assageway communicating at one endwit a source of vacuum and at the other end with an air-operated signal,a plunger extending into said casing at right angles to said passagewayand extending therethrough, a float directly connected to the lower endof said plunger, the top of said plunger being adapted to normally closesaid passageway'and being adapted to fall and open communication betweenthe ends thereof when the level of liquid in said tank has dropped to apredetermined point.

2. In an alarm device for warning the driver of a motor vehicle when thefuel in the supply tank has become nearly exhausted, a casing having aflange for attachment to the ed e of an opening in the top of the tank,said casing having an interior horizontal passageway communicating atone end with a source of vacuum and at the other end with anair-operated signal, a plunger extending into said casing at rightangles to said passageway and extending therethrough, said passagewayhaving a socket in its upper surface adapted to form .a seat for theupper end of said plunger, a

float directly connected to the lower end of said plunger, the top ofsaid plunger being adapted to normally close said passageway and beingadapted to fall and open communication between the ends thereof when thelevel of liquid in said tank has dropped to a predetermined oint.

In testimony w ereof, we have afiixed our signatures to thisspecification.

CIRILLO DI PIETRO. DANIEL M. COLUCCI.

